


Bathing

by SealedAsBefore



Series: Life Lessons [2]
Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Bathing, Bonding, Fluff, Gen, Nudity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-30
Updated: 2014-12-30
Packaged: 2018-03-04 08:34:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,631
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3054833
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SealedAsBefore/pseuds/SealedAsBefore
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dorian was slowly stalking around one of the long tables in the hall, following Cole, who managed to evade him without actually looking like he was running away. Callum could see that Cole was fast backing himself into a corner, and the smirk twisting Dorian’s handsome mouth said he knew it, too. </p><p>“Don’t be stubborn, Cole. This is for your own good.” </p><p>Or: Cole doesn't want a bath. Dorian doesn't give a damn.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bathing

Callum trudged up Skyhold’s steps, exhausted from a rift hunt that had taken him to a very dank, very spider infested cave. He wasn’t sure whether it was mud or spider goop he was covered in, but his hair had turned from glossy black to a dingy, soupy sort of brown. His armor had been taken for cleaning, along with the bulk of the filth on him, but his hands, shoes, and head were a mess. He could practically hear Vivienne chastising him about proper headgear and protective gloves.

 

He wanted a bath. More accurately, he wanted to crawl into a bath and never emerge, and let the remainder of the rifts sort themselves out while he stayed clean, and maybe tried out one of those shoulder rubs Dorian was always on about.

 

Entering the main hall was a bit of a task these days, with the amount of people that still gathered here. Many times, Callum was able to slip in unnoticed and go on about his business. For all that the Inquisitor was much sought after, not many knew his face well enough to recognize him on sight.

 

The crowd was thicker than usual today, and as he ducked between two Orlesian nobles, Callum saw why. Dorian was slowly stalking around one of the long tables in the hall, following Cole, who managed to evade him without actually looking like he was running away. Callum could see that Cole was fast backing himself into a corner, and the smirk twisting Dorian’s handsome mouth said he knew it, too.

 

“Don’t be stubborn, Cole. This is for your own good.”

 

“I want to help, smelling doesn’t matter!” Cole’s plaintive voice broke as his back hit the wall.

 

“When you smell like _that_ , it’s all that matters. I doubt even your particular talents would be enough to make anyone forget that distinctive fragrance of blood and dirt.” Dorian sniffed delicately at Cole’s shoulder and pulled a face. “And is that a hint of old sweat I smell? Charming!” He rolled his eyes and began marching Cole toward one of the doors leading deeper into the keep.

 

“Are my boys getting along, or do I need to get involved here?” Callum halted in front of the pair, idly scratching at one of the streaks of dirt in his close-cropped hair. He couldn’t quite hold back a noise of disgust at the crusty feel of it.

 

Cole tried to turn toward Callum, stumbling as Dorian pushed him forward again. Callum helpfully held the door open, ignoring the look of betrayal from Cole. “He wants them off, and me wet and cold!”

 

“How many times must I explain, the bath will be _warm_. You don’t listen, it is such a problem.” Hands firmly on Cole’s shoulders, Dorian steered him where he wanted Cole to go. “Don’t mind us, Inquisitor. I’m sure there’s someone alive out there who needs a good killing, and when you return, you’ll have a fresh, clean Cole to be startled by the sudden appearance of.”

 

“I’ve just returned,” Callum informed him, trailing along behind. “If it’s a bath you’re after, I’ll join you. I’m not entirely sure what I’m covered in, but it’s starting to itch.”

 

Dorian finally glanced over at the Inquisitor, snickering at the sight of him. “You know, this is exactly how the tales back home describe Southerners. Tevinter would be happy to know they’re doing you barbarians justice.”

 

Callum frowned, but dancing citrine eyes betrayed his amusement as they entered the men’s bath. “Take him in, I’m going to try to loosen up some of this…whatever it is. I’m trying not to think too hard about it.” Callum worked the fastenings of his shirt as he walked away, adding, “Stop staring at my admittedly well-formed backside, Dorian Pavus.”

 

The mage grinned and refocused on his task, meeting Cole’s sullen stare and rolling his eyes. “Honestly, it’s not as if I asked you to drown yourself. Come on, off with those rags, which I’m half convinced are only held together by the sheer amount of grime clinging to you.”

 

Cole looked down at himself, and then began picking at the dirty cloth wrapping his hands. “It’s the smell of blood that you can’t stand. It reminds you of too much.”

 

Looking up from where he’d begun taking off his own clothes, folding each piece neatly and stacking them on a bench, Dorian swallowed hard. He guessed he wasn’t going to like what Cole was about to say, but he’d learned that there was nothing he could say to protest that would make the slightest bit of difference.

 

Cole’s hands were bare now, nails dirty, and Dorian knew what Cole was going to say before he started. “Her soft hands make you nervous, nails too long, too red, how did she get them so red, best not to ask, scent like rust beneath her perfume, smile, keep dancing, he mustn’t see.” Cole wrung his hands, pale and naked, and Dorian couldn’t look any longer, refolding clothes that were already tidy. “I’m sorry your father didn’t listen. He will listen now.”

 

Dorian patted the pile of clothes into a nearly perfect square and turned. “How unpleasant that was,” he said, smiling to try and beat the memory into the back of his mind, where it belonged. “I’ll take your hat, you work on the shirt. If you really insist on calling it that.” He took the hat, which had seen much better days, and set it on the bench beside his own clothes. Then, Dorian thought the better of it and shifted Cole’s hat to a different bench. One never knew what little creatures might frequent a hat so filthy it should have been sprouting mushrooms, and Dorian was rather fond of his clothing.

 

“How goes it?” Callum said as he reentered the main bath, dripping wet and naked, making a rude gesture in the face of Dorian’s leer.

 

“Cole continues to lose the battle against his clothing.”

 

Callum walked down the stone steps leading into the water, kept steaming by a series of runes that the Chantry faithful weren’t actively aware of. He settled at the far end of the bath with a tired groan, muttering something about ‘never leaving’ and ‘sod the rifts.’ After a minute of watching Cole, half-in and half-out of his shirt and beginning to struggle with the laces on his trousers, Callum took pity on his spirit friend. “Help him, Dorian. We’ll be old men before he’s through.”

 

The mage tossed out a few choice words in his native tongue and stepped in to help wrestle Cole out of his clothes, which Dorian set aside on the bench beside Cole’s hat. He still wasn’t fully convinced that burning the whole pile wouldn’t be better, but that could be dealt with after the spirit was clean.

 

“Maker’s breath, you’d think we never take you into the sun, you pale thing. Come ‘round to the stairs and get into the water, Cole. It’s warm, you’ll like it.” Callum swept his hand toward the stairs, flinging drops of water.

Cole hesitated at the top step, feeling the warmth seeping up through the bottoms of his feet. Stepping down and moving toward Callum, Cole watched as the water enveloped his feet, his calves, his thighs, his waist. “It burns, but it isn’t painful, I feel...less solid. Is that right?”

 

Dorian sank into the water, arm stretching over the lip of the bath. “You’re relaxing, not melting. Soak, wash, soak, Cole. That’s how we’ll do it today. Most of the smell was in your clothes, I noticed. Normally, you wash first, but I doubt I would have been able to get you to this point if I’d started you out with a bucket of cold water and a bar of soap.”

 

Taking his cue from the other men, Cole sat in the water, the surface nearly touching his chin. “I understand why people find this so comforting. I like it. Thank you for bringing me here.”

 

“Never let it be said that I let an opportunity to further your education pass me by,” Dorian answered, eyes closed as he let the warmth of the water soothe any lingering distress away. “You’re not putting those clothes back on, Cole, not after all the work getting you out of them.”

 

“I could go without, but Sera will be angry if she sees me.”

 

“No one was suggesting you roam Skyhold nude, though it would almost be worth it to see Sera trying to pretend she doesn’t see you, while getting angry because she sees you a bit too much.” Dorian chuckled at the image. “There’s a small supply of tunics and trousers, above the soap and buckets. We’ll find something that will fit.”

 

Cole swirled his hands beneath the water. “Do I get out now?”

 

“Not unless you want to, no. We can soak a bit longer yet, though I think Callum’s dropped off, I can hear that little rattle of a snore that he insists he doesn’t do. Keep an eye on him. It would be such a pity if he drowned.”

 

Cole nodded, though Dorian couldn’t see. “This has been good. I thought wet and cold, but this is better.”

 

Dorian smiled, while Callum snorted himself awake and immediately tried to pretend he hadn’t been asleep.

 

Watching the two begin to bicker might have confused Cole once. Now, he understood the fondness that underscored every interaction. There was a space carved out of Callum for every person in his inner circle, warm as the bath and infinitely more comforting. Now that Cole was more of a person, it was easier to take up that space that was his.

 

Being _more_ was different, but it was good, too.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it. Comment down below and let me know what Cole should learn next! Thank you to all the people who have been reading my fic and leaving kudos, you guys are awesome. See you again!


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